"Spend less than you earn" is the most basic personal finance rule. It's simple and clear: The only way to build wealth is to have a surplus of money. The Get Rich Slowly blog, however, says it's time to turn that old law upside down: "Earn more than you spend."

When it comes to smart personal finance and building wealth, there's really only one basic…
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In theory it's the same thing: Earning more than you spend creates that surplus. However, it puts more emphasis on increasing your earnings rather than cutting back:

"Earn more than you spend" places the emphasis on the earning end of the formula. We want to get rich slowly, not live poor comfortably. And for this we need to make enough money so that our surpluses can actually get us rich.

PF articles of recent years have tended to treat income as a fixed quantity, touting savings as the great challenge ahead. I'd like to make a different call to arms.

When we put earnings first, we task our intelligence and imagination with finding ways to make more money, instead of asking them to figure out 101 ways to squeeze blood from a stone.

Cutting spending and using frugal solutions may be easier to do than increasing your income, but there are several ways to earn pocket money online. The different perspective could encourage you to find ways to bring in more money and maintain your current lifestyle.